Waste Management To Eliminate 5,000 Jobs By 2026 As it Stresses Technology

'It becomes difficult to find folks to drive a truck or to work on a piece of heavy equipment.'

Houston-based Waste Management plans to transition to a more automation-driven model in 2025, phasing out its physical labor workforce in favor of technology-driven solutions.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the waste and recycling company plans to cut 1,000 jobs in 2025. The breakdown: approximately 650 trucking positions through fleet modernization and 350 in its recycling plant workforce in favor of advanced upgrades.

By 2026, the company wants to eliminate 5,000 jobs. Kelly Caplan, Waste Management’s senior director of external communications, told the Chronicle that “increased automation is reducing the demand for these types of labor-intensive roles.”

The plan has been in development for a while, Caplan said.

“Our average heavy equipment operator is approaching 53 years old,” Jim Fish, Waste Management’s chief executive, told CNBC’s Jim Cramer last month on Mad Money. “It becomes difficult to find folks to drive a truck or to work on a piece of heavy equipment So this is almost by necessity that we’re using technology to replace difficult-to-hire roles. I think one thing that I wanted to make sure I was clear about on here, though, is we’re not laying folks off. All we’re doing is using attrition. Some of those jobs have very high turnover rates.”

Automated physical labor jobs will include a crane extending from the truck to grab trash bins and a conveyor-style system that picks up the trash and loads it into the truck.

“WM is increasing the use of technology and automation, which will reduce labor dependency for roles that are challenging to recruit and retain across North America,” the company said in a statement. “Technology is helping us mitigate the business risk associated with high attrition rates for these roles—a challenge not only for WM but for the industry at large.”